


Skate On My Way Baby

by Mehhh



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Multi, Roller Derby, allura is terrifying, basically a roller skate au, here are roller skating paladians, hunk rocks short shorts, i didn't see any roller skating boys, i wante d roller skating boys, lance is really bi, roller hockey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 11:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7572244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mehhh/pseuds/Mehhh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started with an angel on roller skates. A puck to the head. A Roller Derby match. That's how Lance fell in love with the most annoying, irritating roller skater ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lance Is In Love

Lance swore he saw an angel roll by. An actual, swear to God angel. Lance was raised a holy man, no way he would lie about seeing an angel. The glow was there, the trumpets from the heavens, the holy light that seemed to surround the figure. All there. All. 

He watched as the man glided by on red, quad roller skates, crossing one foot over the other with practiced and casual ease. The wind blew through their black hair as they weaved around the crowds of people littering the beach sidewalk, effortlessly turning and twisting like a pro through it all. He watched the cross shoulder bag that rested on the angel’s hip swing as he beautifully jumped over an old cardboard box in his way. Lance was in love. 

“Lance, watch out!” Lance was in pain. 

“Ah fuck man.” Lance groaned. He had fallen forward on his skates, faceplanting onto the concrete floor. His helmet took the brunt of the fall, but fuck if his head still didn’t hurt. He flopped over on his back, trying to feel his legs. The normal bright Southern California sun was blocked out by Shiro standing above him. Shiro looked exasperated, as he normally did with Lance and his antics, as he crouched down slightly and offered a hand out. Lance grabbed onto the hand and somehow got back up on his skates, picking his hockey stick up off the floor. He had taken his fair share of spills before. More than his fair share if he were to be honest with himself. 

Pidge, the smug little asshole, was laughing her ass off, wobbling on her skates and using her hockey stick to hold herself up. “I can’t believe that actually happened, Mr. King of the Puck. I literally called your name out three times to get your attention. We’re in the middle of the practice, how did you not see that play?” 

“Pidge, can you not?” Lance said as he dusted himself off. Of course of all people, he was the one that would get maimed by the puck during their first inline hockey practice of the year. The rest of his teammates weren’t even checking if he was okay. He could have a concussion for all they know. 

He knew he didn't have a concussion (he’s had one too many to forget how they feel) but they still didn’t know. 

“She did call out to you several times.But I think that was enough hockey practice for today.” He turned towards the rest of the team and called out, “Alright, good job today on our first day everybody. You can pack up and go home. Make sure to do some stretches before you go and take a break tomorrow. Next practice is Wednesday at 5. Be ready for a longer practice.” 

His declaration was met with cheers as the rest of their teammates hustled to leave the ring. Everyone skated towards the small door, the heat from the sun still beating down on them. They spilled out onto the sidewalk, sitting down on the benches that were littered around the ring to take off their skates. 

“I still can’t believe how much they respect you, Shiro.” The three of them turned around to look at Allura skating over to them. “It’s a miracle if I could get my team to listen to me half as well as you do.” 

“That’s because Shiro is the best captain we’ve ever had.” Shay said as she skated in from the other side of the ring with her goalie mask under her arm. She pulled up right next to Lance, placing the other hand on his shoulder. “But Lance are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” His brain was just trying to shrug off the embarrassment of falling in front of Allura. Talk about being an out of this world beauty, Allura was downright gorgeous. Not as gorgeous as the angel though. He didn’t think anyone could be as gorgeous as they were honestly. 

“They’re just saying that because last year’s captain just pushed us to our best. A bit too hard, but to our best.” Shiro shrugged his shoulders.

“If you mean a nutjob who pushed us until we were all exhausted to the point of death, yeah she pushed us to do our best. She was more of a military commander than the captain of a college roller hockey team.” Pidge said, restlessly skating around the group. She was never good at staying still when she was on her wheels. 

“Stop being judgemental, she was the first one to lead us to the nationals for the first time in twenty years.” Shiro scolded Pidge before turning back to Allura. “Anyways, thanks for filling in for Rox today last minute on our first day. You’re really great on the court. A total natural.”

“Yeah, are you sure you don’t wanna switch over to inline roller hockey? It would be one hell of a roll with someone as beautiful as you on the team.” Lance said as he rolled himself over to Allura. There was a collective groan within the group.

“Lance, what did I tell you about using puns to hit on people.” Shiro said, holding the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.

“That wasn’t even a good pun. I give it a 2 out of 10. Low quality and not well thought out. The deliverance and speaker was annoying too.” Pidge shook her head, bumping her hip into Lance. 

“Can we take an extra point off for it being a pick up line?” Shay asked.

“Shay is right, as normal. 1 out of 10.” Pidge shook her head in agreement, crossing her arms. “So disappointed in you Lance. Thought I raised you better.”

“Goddamit, stop rating my puns. And you’re two years younger than me, how could you raise me?” 

“Ignoring the terrible pun and subsequent discourse, Allura, you are really good at hockey. You had the majority of the team afraid you were gonna kill them without even going near them. Our other goalie looked like she was gonna faint when you slammed the puck into the net in those last few seconds of the match. Are you sure you don’t wanna join roller hockey?” Shiro said.

“Oh I couldn’t if I even wanted too. My team would kill me. Plus, roller derby is much too fun to give up for something like roller hockey.” 

“Oh come one.” Lance said. “Roller derby can’t be that fun. You only skate around a track over and over again. You don’t even go that fast on quad skates anyways.”

Lance could see Shiro sigh in disappointment next to Allura, could hear Pidge holding back laughter next to Shay, and he swore he heard Shay mumble ‘Lance, sometimes you’re an idiot’ under her breath. Allura only looked at him with a strange smile, one that didn’t scream out ‘pleasant’.

“Lance, you have never been to a roller derby match before, haven’t you?” Lance shook his head no. “Well then, I personally invite you to my roller derby match tomorrow. In fact, I invite everyone to come.”

“That sounds great, Allura. I’m sure we can all come.” Shiro said, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

“Yeah, I’m down.” Pidge nodded. 

“I don’t have anything to do tomorrow. If Rox is feeling better, I’ll drag him along too.” Shay said. They all turned towards Lance, looking him down. 

“Alright, alright. I’ll go. Stop looking at me like I killed a kitten.” 

“You’ve probably done much worse.” Pidge mumbled under her breath as Allura started clapping her hands together. 

“Perfect, oh this is just perfect. I’ll get Coran to save ringside seats for the lot of you.”

“I’m sure it will be great.” Shiro said. 

“Oh it will be. They don’t call ringside seats the “Suicide Seats” for nothing. Anyways, Shiro I’ll text you the details about the bout. I have to go and rest now. I wasn’t even supposed to do any roller skating today. But I can’t wait to see you all tomorrow.” Allura giggled before she skated away, doing a twirl before exiting the ring. 

“Did she say suicide seats?”

“Did she just say she wasn’t supposed to roller skate today?”

“Did the lady who literally just took down a guy twice her size not even half an hour ago just giggle?”

They all looked at each other before shivering. 

 

Lance groaned as his body hit the bed. He nearly cried as he sank into the soft bliss of the mattress, trying to ignore the sore pain that spread throughout his body. 

“Well it seems like you’re in pain.” Hunk said from the other bed, sipping from a juice box. “Rough day at practice?”

“Shiro is a fucking maniac sometimes. I mean he isn’t as bad as Paulie. Paulie was insane. Paulie was downfuckingright criminal, ese hija de puta. But fuck man, Shiro is killer too.” Lance rolled over onto his back, looking up at the glow in the dark stars on his ceiling. He remembered spending a whole day putting those up. And falling from his bed several times, much to Pidge’s and Hunk’s amusement. But he hadn’t moved them since and he didn’t plan on it either. They reminded him of his own bedroom back home in Florida. Of looking up at the brightly lit stars in the dark fields behind his grandparent's house in Cuba. 

“It can’t be that bad if you keep joining the team every year.”

“Yeah.” Lance sighed. “Starting to think I’m a masochist though.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me one bit, Lance.”

“Hey!” Lance sat up and threw his pillow at Hunk, who perfectly caught it without looking away from the tv. Lance groaned again and fell back on the bed. “I was slammed in the back of the head with the puck today. I saw an angel.”

“Wow, did it really hit you that hard?” 

“What! No, Hunk. I mean I saw someone who looked like an angel. He distracted me from the game” 

“Well damn. Thought you might’ve died for a second time again.”

“Hunk! I’m serious here. He was beautiful. In the middle of practice I see him. He’s just gliding past the rink on quad skates. Fuck man, he was gorgeous. And he knows how to roller skate. Like he was really, really good at it too. That makes him like…. a billion times hotter.”

“Is it me or are your standards getting lower, Lance?” Hunk asked him, moving his arm out to block the second pillow Lance throws at him. 

“Can we not make fun of Lance for one second?” He rubbed his forehead, trying to find the right words. “I’m serious about this one.”

“Lance, you were serious about the cashier at the supermarket. And the pizza delivery guy. And that non-binary dude that works at Chipotle. And the barista at starbucks. And-”

“Alright, alright, I get it. I fall in love easily, I know, I know.” Lance rubbed his hands over his face. “But it’s different this time. Do you ever just look at someone at feel a spark?”

“Uh, no.”

“That’s because you’re not romantic Hunk. When I looked at him…. damn it was like I could see our whole futures together.”

“Oh that’s not creepy at all, Lance. What did you imagine how your wedding cake and kids would like too?”

“.... No. Maybe. Yes. Whatever that’s besides the point. Look Hunk, I need your support in this.”

Hunk put down his juice box and turned towards Lance, looking him square in the eyes with his normal gentle smile. “Dude, we've been roommate for two years and friends for longer than that. You know I will always support you no matter how stupid or insane your decisions may be. If you say you really like this guy, then go for it. If you ever find him again.” 

“Wow. Thank you Hunk. Am I thanking you about being my totally supportive bbaffffae ever or reminding me about the inevitably of me ever meeting the love of my life again? I don’t know.”

“Probably a little of both.”

“Yeah both sounds good.” 

“Anyways.” Lance stood, scratching his lower back. He headed over to the small fridge they shared and pulled out a juice box. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Nothing really. Just some classes in the morning and I gotta go start a group project for my agricultural engineering.” Hunk shrugged as Lance sat on his bed next to him. The two instantly moved closer, snuggling together with Hunk’s arm thrown over Lance’s shoulders and Lance’s head resting on Hunk. Hunk grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, turning to another episode of Law and Order:SVU. 

“Ugh, dude that sounds lame. You gotta have more fun with your life.” 

“Well, unlike some people who likes to leave things to the last minute and have a panic attack about them, I like to take care of things right away. And have a panic attack about them now.” 

“Pfffffttttt. That’s just code for you being a boring person. Better than what I got. Shiro’s huge ass crush on Allura made me, Pidge, and Shay sign our souls over to see Allura’s roller derby match tomorrow. Talk about boooooorrrringggggg.” 

Lance didn’t notice the blush that appeared on Hunk’s face or his discomfort about the topic. “Ye-yeah. Totally boring. Hey, did you see the new Mr. Robot episode yet?” 

“No, I did not. Is it good?” Lance obviously didn’t notice the sudden change in conversation. 

“The season is getting better and better by the minute.”

“What are you waiting for? Put it on. Put it on.” Lance shook Hunk’s arm, already bouncing like a child about to open a present. 

“Give me a second, you know our remote is shit.” Hunk said with a sigh of relief, grin back up on his face. 

The next day was particularly rough for Lance. He woke up late, a product of a last minute, late night Mr. Robot rewatchbinge. Hunn had enough common sense to go to sleep at a reasonable time (1 aclock)but Lance was hooked on it till dawn. He was locked out of his first class of the day, Modern Day Economics 101, all because he swears that the professor, Dr. Tyler, has a racist agenda against him. There was literally only so many times Lance and the other Latin people in the class be called out for cheating before a riot happens. And Lance was getting pushed closer to that riot every class. 

In his next class,Classic English Literature, he was bombarded with a pop quiz that he had no clue about in advance. Sure, that was the meaning of a pop quiz but still, you should really give a guy some warning. 

His normal lunch time squad, that consisted of him, Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk, all dumped him at the last minute. So he found himself in the dining hall eating a bad salad alone. Seriously, this university even messed up salad. 

By the end of the day, Lance just wanted a break. To go in his dorm and binge watch netflix, just himself and a tub of cookie dough, craving some of his mother’s polvorones. But noooooooooo, instead he was dragged into a car, smushed between Shay and Rox, as small Pidge hogged the front seat and Shiro drove the group to a roller rink 40 minutes out of town in his old ass Sedan. 

“Why am I here again?” He asked himself mostly, sulking and puting with his arms crossed. 

“Because you made Allura mad with your roller derby comment and now you have to pay the price.” Shiro said in his matter of fact father voice. 

“Alright, we all know Lance is an idiot, but why am I here? I’m still sick.” Rox said with a sniffle. 

“Because you’re always sick, Rox. Stop your yapping.” Shay said. 

“Yeah man. If I’m stuck seeing this, so are you.” Lance nudged Rox with his elbow. Rox slapped Lance’s arm back in retaliation, starting another one of their slap fights. They knocked at each other, pushing more and more into Shay.

“Children! Stop it already or Shiro will pull over right here and leave you.” Pidge scolded them from the front seat. Lance and Rox groaned, nudging each other one last time out of pettiness. 

“Plus, you guys should think of this as going because you pissed off Allura. You’re going because you really want to enjoy a whole new sport you haven’t experienced before.” Shiro said. “The fact that Allura wants to kill you is only an outside influence as to why you guys are coming.” 

“That’s code for Allura will kill you if you guys don’t go. Also code for Shiro wanting to impress and charm Allura into a date.” Pidge chuckled, obviously having fun torturing the three boys and Shiro’s blushing red face. Lance groaned again, leaning back against the seat. Dragged to a roller derby game of all things, of course. Only he could be dragged into watching something so lame. He could be searching for his angel instead of doing this. Just grab his inline skates and skate the sidewalks by the beach where Lance last saw him. 

Ten minutes of mindless boredom and Pidge’s weird techno music, they finally got to the roller rink. 

The parking lot was surprisingly more full than Lance had thought it would be. People were in groups chatting as loud rock music blared from the building. The doors were open and he could see disco lights flashing from within. 

As they walked towards the building, the crowd was surprising more diverse than he had thought it would be. Bikers sitting on their motorcycles were talking to soccer mom types. Punks were hanging out with average joes. Heck, Lance saw kids their, standing next to their parents with looks of amazement and excitement. If there was one thing Lance liked about this place, it was all the different people here. And that was about the only thing. 

The first thing he noticed when he walked into the building was the sign announcing that it was $20 for tickets. The entrance was blocked by a table, several cashiers working furiously at getting out tickets. 

“Wait, wait, wait, hold up. I am not paying for no tickets. I am a broke ass college student. I can barely pay to breath in this economy.” 

“Calm down, Lance.” Shiro looked over at him. “Allura already texted me about it. She says we should tell the cashiers that we’re here to find Coran.”

“Who exactly is Coran?” Pidge asked as she finally caught up. She kept stopping behind the group, looking at everything that was going on around them. It was as if she had to constantly question everything she saw at their encounter with the *unknown*. 

“The team’s coach. I think. He’s supposed to be a professor at the school, but I’ve never heard of him.” Shiro shrugged before stopping at the cashier table. It was only a few seconds before they were let through, all free of charge. Lance could feel his wallet crying in relief. He was still paying back Shay after borrowing $10 from her last week. With interest. It’s always the nice ones that are the most brutal. 

“What are we supposed to do now, Shiro?” Shay asked. They were in a much more crowded lobby now, the groups more condensed here. The room was filled with loud music, loud people, and the smell of greasy, overpriced junk food. Just how Lance liked it. 

“I guess we should head to the arena and find Coran? Allura said that he would show us our seats.” 

“How are we supposed to find someone when we don’t know how they look?” Rox asked, grumbling in the normal way he did.

“Allura mentioned that we would know him when we saw him. That we would, and I quote, be able to notice him as much as we would be able to notice when Lance is trying to hide a boner. She said that with love though.”

“Maldita sea, when is it gonna stop being ‘Pick On Lance’ month?” Lance could feel that tick behind his eyebrow, that twitch that always let him know to calm down. 

“It’s okay. Just get through the night and you can rest in bed Lance.” Shay patted his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. Lance could feel his shoulders loosen and the smile on his face become more natural before nodding back to her. 

They entered the doors marking the stadium. The first thing that Lance noticed was the music. It was ten times louder in here than it was in the lobby. And his hearing was already shot from that.

He could also smell booze. Lance was a college student. His nose was especially adapted and evolved with the ability to smell out booze. It was like his friggin blood called out to it. 

The third thing he noticed was just the amount of pure chaos that filled the room. People were cheering already, homemade signs filled to sky, and everyone was doing this as one big crowd. 

The room looked something like a stadium, with the middle of the floor sinking in and staggered seats so everyone could get a view of the ring. It was dim, somewhat smoky feeling, and neon lights swirled across the room, lighting up Lance’s face every few seconds. It was like a whole underground rave scene. 

The energy, the passion, the pure power of the room was starting to get to Lance. He could feel himself bouncing with energy. He couldn’t control the elated high he was getting, bouncing on his heels. He was the first one to speak. “Holy fucking shit.”

“You can say that again.”

“Holy fucking shit.”

“No really, say it again. I can’t hear you at all.” Pidge said as she turned around to look at him. 

“Holy shit, nevermind Pidge.” He said louder, straining his voice over the music and the crowds. 

“Guys, how the fuck are we supposed to find anyone in this crowd? This is bigger than most of our hockey games.” Rox said as he turned around to take in the sheer enormity of the room. 

“Guys.” They all turned to Pidge, who was point towards someone in the crowd. “I think I found Coran.”

They all looked to whom Pidge was point to and were taking back immediately. A middle age man stood with a bunch of young punk type teens, laughing along with them. He had a big, bushy red mustache and was wearing a ridiculous tweed jacket that had felt so out of place in the building. 

“Isn’t he one of the aeronautics professors?” Shay said first as they all stared in bewilderment. It seemed as if Coran finally noticed them and his face brightened with delight. He said goodbye to the teens and made fast pace towards the shocked group. 

“Shiro, my good boy. Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies.” Coran straightened his jacket, smiling at the group. 

“Mr. Alfor, you’re the coach of the university’s roller derby team?” Rox asked. 

“Well, coach is a light term. Advisor, I would like to say. I honestly have no clue how to roller skate in the first place.” Coran laughed at his own statement, all hunky dory as if it was only natural. Lance could feel himself have a stroke. “Anyways, Allura told me that since it’s all of yours first roller derby bout, I should stick with you just in case to explain any rules to you.”

“That would be really great, Mr. Alfor. Thank you alot.” Shiro said with his best ‘adulting’ voice. 

“Oh, don’t call me Mr. Alfor here. Coran is fine. Now come on roller hockey team. I got you lot seats in the suicide section.” He led them down the stairs of the arena, stopping right in front of the barriers that separated the ground seats and the roller derby ring. Are you ready for your first ever roller derby match? Mine was a doozy. Found myself hungover to the shits in a trashcan the next morning with a missing tooth and a half shaven eyebrow” 

Lance only just finally understood what he signed himself up for. And he was motherfucking terrified.


	2. Falling Yet

Roller derby should not be this terrifying. The atmosphere in the room screamed feverous blood lust. The game hadn’t even started yet and people were cheering and booing, screaming chants and jeers in support of their teams. People had noisemakers of all sorts, from air horns to those little plastic noise makers you get on New Years. They only added to the noise with the already loud rock music blasting.

The seats that Coran led them to were only ten feet from the barriers, separating them from the track. Lance could just step over one and he would be on the track. The barriers went up to his hips and no higher and they didn’t look all that stable. The rest of the group was chatting with Coran, but Lance was wrapped up in looking around the place. He felt himself craving some greasy ass food and his eyes were starting to strain from the flashing lights. It was all stimulant overload. When he finally brought his mind back into his body, he turned back towards the group's conversation.

“So anyways Coran,” Shay said, “What are the rules in roller derby?”

“Ah well that may seem a little complicated to understand at first.” He fixed his jacket and sat up straight before continuing. “Basically we are watching a bout today. Roller derby terminology for a game. The bout is split into two 30-minute periods. And each 30 minute period is filled with about 15 jams, give are take. The jams are about 2 minute games each around the track.”

“Wait, wait, wait, you already lost me here, brah.” Lance shook his head. Bouts? Jams? Time? What is any of that??????

“I think I got it.” Pidge spoke up. “Basically the whole game, or bout, will last an hour with a half time in between. Within each of those bouts, the players will have the actually game about 15 times, each of those games lasting two minutes. Did I get it right?”

“Perfectly Pidge! So the average amount of members on a team is 12, the most a team can have is 20. On our team, the Paladians, we have 10. Not many people around the school find this sport to be fun you know. Too bad they’re missing out.” Coran sighed and shook his head. “Anyways, there is always ten players on the track at a time, five from our team and five from the opposing team. On each time are three different positions. There is one jammer, one pivot, and three blockers.”

“That sounds like the start of a very bad joke.” Rox quipped in. 

“Rox, hush.” Shay pushed his shoulder and turned back to Coran.

“A brutal joke, yes probably. So what do the positions do? Well the jammer is the one who wins points for the team. The blockers and the pivot’s jobs are to block the jammer from passing them. Notice how there are two lines painted on the track?” Everyone nodded their head when they saw the two bright red lines. “The pivots normally start at the first line, or the pivot line. Everyone else can start anywhere between the first pivot line and the second starting line. When they skate, they form the pack, which is where the majority of the skaters are. As a blocker or pivot, you are not allowed to be more than 20 feet in front of or behind the pack or you’re out of play. Those 20 feet are the engagement zone where a lot of the rough stuff happens. The jammer starts from behind the second line. They first have to skate through the pack once, the initial pass. Then they can start scoring on the second pass. The jammers win points by passing the blockers and the pivot on the other team. The blockers and the pivots try and stop the jammers from passing them while helping their own jammer through the pack and pass the other team’s blockers.”

“That sounds complicated.” Lance could feel his head spinning. There was something about pivots? Blockers? Skating around? Points? Humanity? 

“Don’t worry my boy, you’ll get it when the game starts.” Coran laughed a big hearty laugh. “And lookie, it seems like the players are finally coming out.”

Coran was right. The music had gotten much more serious, that music they play when announcers were about to introduce the players. You know the one. Dun dun dun dunana dun dun dun danana.Like that. A loud over excited voice came up over the loudspeakers.

“Welcome ladies, gentlemen, people of all genders to the first roller derby bout of the college roller derby season. Jackson, are you just as excited to be here tonight as I am?”

“Well Tim, you got excited that we had oatmeal with cinnamon for breakfast this morning, so no. I don’t think I can ever get as excited as you can be, babe. But don’t let that fool you folks, I am ready for this season’s first roller derby bout. Today we have the South University’s Pigs up against the Altean University’s Paladians. Both teams were off the hook last season.” 

“You can say that again, Jackson.”

“Both teams were off the hook last season.”

“Oh god, I am going to break up with you if you do that one more time, so help me god. Anyways, yes both teams did amazingly well in the competition last year. The Pigs made it all the way to semi-nationals with their astounding defensive skills. Nicknamed “The Mud Reckers” they push, bully, and prod to their wins. Just like you do in bed.”

“Well I’ll be remembering that one. Let’s see who is gonna be sleeping on the couch tonight, Tim. The Paladians are the new team in the circuit, only starting out last year. Don’t let that fool you, they’re already making a name for themselves on the market. Though they didn’t make it as far as the Pigs last year, they are known for their well rounded and organized teamwork. Who knows what these underdogs will grow out to be? Unlike someone else that I know who doesn’t grow.”

“And while I contemplate my relationship, here comes the players.” The Pigs were announced first, coming out in yellow jerseys. The crowd screamed and cheered, shaking signs as the players skated around the tracks. 

“Hey, Coran.” Shiro said out of nowhere.

“Yes?”

“Why are the names so… strange. Like, I’m pretty sure one of them was named Lady Boots? Another was McVille Vee. I don’t think those were real names.” 

“It would be very strange to name your child McVille Vee, wouldn’t it? But no. One of the traditions of roller derby is to come up with something like a stage name. Everyone comes up with one, to show off their personalities and keep up the presence of the game.”

“Huh, wonder what Allura’s is.” Shiro said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat.

“Oh no worries. You’ll find out in a second.”

“And here they are, The Paladians.” The other team poured out onto the track, wearing white and light blue jerseys. “Up first is the team’s captain, Allura, otherwise known as War Machine. Who I can attest for, is a literal war machine.” 

Shiro choked on his drink as he saw Allura skating around the track first, pumping her fists with black paint in block lines under her eyes, a vicious look on her face. “Her name is War Machine!?”

“You bet your bottom dollar. She came up with it herself.” Coran grinned proudly at her, waving as she skated past them.

“Next up on the line up is Hunkalicious. Last season he was one of the most talked about blockers in the business. Can’t wait to see what he’s got in him for this year.” And there right in front of his very eyes was Hunk Kealoha, his bbaffffae, or best bitching and fucking fabulous friend forever and ever, skating around the track in a jersey that actually said Hunkalicious on the back and short shorts. Lance jumped out of his seat, screaming Hunk’s name.

“Hunk! Hunk you asshole get over here.” Pidge and Shiro were also on their feet, waving madly at their friend. Shay, Lance noticed, looked like she was conked over the head with a love arrow the moment she laid eyes on Hunk. Hunk skated over to them, blushing and pulling at the bottom of the ribbon he always had in his hair.

“Hunk, bro! Why didn’t you tell us that you did roller derby?” Lance asked him as soon as Hunk was close enough. 

“I don’t know. I was afraid you guys would make fun of me. This was kinda just a thing I started last year.”

“Dude you look awesome!” Lance jumped up in down on his feet.

“You really do.” Pidge nodded next to him, smiling up at Hunk. “And you really do rock those short shorts.”

“Dangit, thank you guys. I gotta get back to the team, alright? You guys should come to our locker room during half time.” 

“We will.” Shiro said with a proud dad smile. “Be great out there, Hunk.”

“I’ll try my best.” Hunk said as he skated towards his team. During the time they were talking to Hunk, most of the rest of the players on the Paladin's team had been introduced.

“And last but not least is a brand newcomer to the Paladin team. Here comes Pretty Boy.” The last player skated around the track, his black hair peeking out from his helmet. He skated fast, way too fast, with such a serene look on his face, as if he was only focused in on the moment.

Lance was focused on another thing though. “That’s my angel!” He screamed out, pointing towards the beauty skating the track. He didn’t pay Lance any attention, instead doing an impressive jump turn to show off to the crowd.

“Lance, what are you talking about?” Pidge asked him. “Did that hit from yesterday conk you a little too hard?”

“No, no, no. He’s the reason I got so distracted in the first place. He was skating down the sidewalk while we were in practice.” Lane kept pointing at him in bewilderment.

“Oh, that’s Keith Nguyen. He just came to the university this year.” Coran said. Lance turned back towards the track, heart beating way too fast. Keith Nguyen. Keith. The guy that was roller skating around a track, the words Pretty Boy printed on the back of his jersey. Wearing the tightest short shorts he’s ever seen and knee high socks. He felt like he was going to faint. 

“And the first jam is about to start, folks. Get ready, this is gonna be rough.” The announcer spoke up. The music turned back into rock music, the lights shining bright on just the track and nowhere else. 

“A few more comments before the game starts, group. The jammer wears a helmet cover with the stars on it. They both have referees following them to keep track of how many points they get, so pay attention to them. The pivot has a helmet cover with stripes on it. If it’s a good tactical move, the jammer can give the pivot their helmet cover, thus making the pivot the new jammer.”

“Wait, so does that mean Keith is the jammer?” Lance asked.

“Yup. He’s actually one of the best I’ve seen around. Never seen anyone go as fast as him on skates. And I’ve been watching roller derby since my teenage days. Allura is the pivot this round, so she’ll be leading. Hunk is one of the blockers too. Now pay attention, they’re starting.”

A loud buzzer sounded out and the skaters took off, flying around the track. Lance could feel the wind as they skated past. The room was 20 times louder. The skaters were pushing and shoving, building walls and completely body checking each other. Keith and the other jammer were fighting against the pack, pushing through and trying to make their way out. Hunk had stopped out in front of the other team’s jammer, keeping them back behind Keith. 

Once Keith was near Allura, she grabbed onto his arm and whipped him forward, in front of the pack and out into what Lance assumed was the engagement zone. Another buzzer went off as the announcers spoke again. 

“And there we have it, the first lead jammer of the night, Pretty Boy! He sure is a fast one, look at that Pretty Boy go.”

“Tim, I don’t think I’ve seen a skater quite that fast in a long while. He’s gliding as if he’s skating on pure ice.”

“You are right about that, Jackson.”

“I’m right about a lot of things, Tim.”

“Coran, what exactly is a lead jammer? Why is it so important?” Rox asked.

“The lead jammer is the first jammer to make it through the pack legally. Now Keith can stop the jam if he wants to by hitting his hips repeatedly.”

“Coño, this is fucking awesome. Allura is literally ripping through them.” And it was true. Allura was playing the offensive as well as her nickname implied. She kept ahead of the group but she pushed off anyone who would come too close to the front. She looked like she was screaming something to Hunk, who was still fighting with the other team’s jammer. The other two blocker’s on the Paladin's team were fighting off the blockers trying to come for Hunk. 

Keith had made it to the back of the pack again, screaming something out. Hunk moved, letting the other team's jammer go through, and the Paladians got into offensive position, trying to make a clear pathway, well as clear as they could make it, for Keith to go through. The referee started holding up fingers, shaking her head, blowing her whistle. Lance could barely keep up with the game play. At one point, Allura was stopped along with another blocker, and she looked irritated as hell to be stuck sitting in a booth in the middle of the track while the game kept going. The minute she was nodded to, she skated full pace back towards the pack, pushing her way to Keith and shoving him forward again.

The game was a flurry of mashing, skating, loud sounds, and screams. It was nearly information overload to Lance. He’s been in his fair share of tough battles during roller hockey AND ice hockey, but this looked like a whole new type of brutal. 

And just like that, another buzzer went off. “Wait, wait what happened?” Lance turned to Coran, just a little panicky. 

“I told you, they only last two minutes at a time. Now pay attention, they only have 30 seconds to switch around and set up.” This time the other five players on the Paladin's team were on the track, but that didn’t mean Lance had lost interest.The group was still on their feet, cheering loud and hard for the Paladians.

Lance felt everything rushing through him. He never felt this type of awesome before, expect when he was skating himself. It was intense, watching the players make different plays and cheering out at the end of jams. They kept circling the track, in what looked like some of the most painful ways. They wiped out of the floor, slammed into each, savage attacks and flying whips and shoves. Keith, Allura, and Hunk were on and off the track repeatedly, being switched in and out. Everytime Hunk hit the track he felt his chest swell up with pride. The announcers kept talking about how amazing a blocker Hunk was and sure he didn’t exactly understand everything that was going on on the track. But he could just tell whenever Hunk did anything good because he knew Hunk’s excited face. It was a bright smile, eyes shining with achievement.

Allura was almost too scary to watch. She looked like something out of a horror movie. She had the most intense look on her face and she was grinning madly for more than half the match. She probably had the most time outs from everyone on the track, at least that’s what Lance guessed they were whenever she was forced to sit out. She tore through the pack with practiced skill, either taking over the jammer or the pivot spot whenever she was on. 

But Keith. Lance couldn’t keep his eyes off of Keith. Keith was always a jammer, probably because he seemed a bit leaner than pure muscle of Allura and Hunk and he moved much faster than anyone on the track. He was all slick moves and aggressive shoves when it came down to it. Whenever he was being held back in the pack he would break through with this look of pure determination, skating even faster than before. An angel. Keith literally looked like a hell on wheels angel. 

Lance didn’t even realize the first period was over until they were rolling out of the side doors of the track. The fans were still cheering, but now people were getting up and mingling with each other. Lance was bouncing, pushing the group out of the seats. 

“Guys come on, we gotta go see them in locker room. Come on, come on, come on.” Lance was too excited, he could feel himself jittering like he did when his energy meter was near capsizing with overload. 

“Woah, calm down there a little, Lance.” Shiro put a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “We’ll get to the locker room, don’t worry.” 

A minute , they had made it to the Paladin's locker room. It was a struggle, pushing and shoving through the throng of people filling the building. The minute Lance saw Hunk he tackled hugged his friend. Hunk hugged Lance back tightly, resting his head in Lance’s shoulder. 

“Madre de Dios, dude, that was fucking amazing. Seriously why didn’t you tell me earlier about this?”

“Well just last night you were bashing the sport. How was I supposed to even try to tell you?”

“I was wrong, I was so goddamn wrong. You look fucking awesome out there. Literally you look so badass even I was afraid of you.”

 

“Lance stop, you’re making me blush. Thank you though. It’s really great that you’re so chill about this.”

“Dude if I wasn’t chill about this I would just be a dick. It’s literally just a sport. And if you enjoy this sport, then I’m happy for you. It’s not like you killed somebody. You haven’t, have you?”

 

“No deaths, just some broken bones.” 

Lance laughed before turning serious again. “But why didn’t you tell me about them?” 

“Tell you about who?” Hunk looked at him confused, as if he didn’t know.

“You didn’t tell me you were on the team with my angel.”

“Are you talking about Allura? Because you knew Allura before this man. And also, we all know she’s more Shiro’s angel than yours.” Hunk pointed to Allura, who was surrounded by the rest of the group, giving Hunk and Lance their bbaffffae moment. Shiro was talking the most animatedly, stars in his eyes. Pidge and Shay were quipping in every few seconds.

“Not Allura, the beautiful guy next to her.” He point to Keith, who was standing awkwardly next to Allura, looking a little lost in the group of people surrounding him.

“You mean Keith?”

“Yes. Keith. Pretty boy. The light of my eyes, the very presence in my soul. An amazing, sparkling bright light peeking out from sunset pink clouds.”

“........ Lance, I’m sorry but that was really gay.”

“Shut up.”

“Anyways, I didn’t realize you were talking about Keith last night. But yeah, he joined this year. I’m pretty sure he transferred into the university this year too. He’s a bit on the rough side, just warning ya.”

“No worries, I can take it.” He looked back at the group. His eyes landed on Keith first, who was blushing a bit at the attention, but it was Shay who caught his attention next. She kept looking back at Lance and Hunk. And it looked like Hunk was doing the same to her. “Huhhhhh. Come on buddy, lemme introduce you two love birds.”

“Wait, no Lance. Stop.” Lance pulled a resisting Hunk forward, bringing him over to the group. They stopped in front of Shay, who was looking at Hunk with a blush on her face. “Hey Shay. You haven’t met Hunk yet, have you?”

“Uh, no actually.” She smiled at Hunk, pushing some hair behind her ear.

“Well then, Shay, this is Hunk Kealoha. Hunk, this is Shaema Benali, or as we call her, Shay. She’s on my hockey team.” 

“H-hey Shay.” Hunk held a hand to her, trying to stop his stammering.

“Hello Hunk.” She shook his hand back, but instead of letting go they let their hands hang together. They were looking each other in the eyes and smiling. Obviously already in love. 

“Imma just let you two kids chat.” He patted them both on the shoulder before making a beeline towards Keith, smiling to himself about his proud work. He stopped in front of Keith, putting on his ‘charm’ smile. “Did it hurt when you fell?”

Keith stared at him confused. “Yeah it fucking hurts when you fall in roller derby. What did you think? It feels like a hug?”

“What? No.” Lance shook his head, carding his fingers through his hair. “I mean did it hurt when you fell from heaven. Cause you’re an angel.”

“What the actual fuck are you talking about?” Keith leaned away from Lance, as if he was contagious.

“Alright, maybe I started this off wrong. I’m Lance Sanchez. I’m Hunk’s best friend. And the guy of your dreams.”

“You know what, I’m just gonna go that way. Please don’t follow me.” Keith said as he pointed back towards the rest of his team. Before Lance could say anything Keith walked away, leaving Lance gobsmacked. 

“¡Por supuesto! I fuck up again. Good one, Lance” Lance said to himself as he watched Keith’s retreating back.

“Well you were kind of creepy. You have to admit that.” Lance jumped when he heard Pidge speak. He looked down at Pidge, who was smirking smugly up at him.

“Shut up. It wasn’t that creepy.”

“On a scale of one to the P.T. demo game creepy, you were Human Centipede. I literally cringed at several points because you were just so bad that you literally made the average fuckboi frat kid look attractive next to you. You were such a turn off, that you literally could turn off a light bulb without touching a switch with how creepy that was.”

“Alright alright, I get it. That didn’t go half as smooth as it could’ve gone.” Lance pouted and crossed his arms. He really didn’t think he was that creepy. Maybe Keith was just a little difficult to get through too. He just needed to get use to the Lance Sanchez Family Charm™ (All rights and use accredited to Lance Sanchez and the Sanchez Family).

“You think? Maybe you should just leave Keith alone. He doesn’t seem that type.” 

“The gay type? I’m sorry but seriously you cannot be looking at the same person if you don’t think he’s gay. Like I don’t wanna seem as if I was one of those people who are always like ‘I knew it’ whenever someone comes out. But seriously. That boy screams gay.”

“No, you idiot. I’m talking about the type to be receptive to pick up lines. He really doesn’t seem like the social type Lance. And he could be put off by how… social you are, to put it nicely.” 

“Don’t worry, I’ll take it slow. No one can resist this hot stuff.” Lance placed a finger on a popped hip, making a sizzling sound. Pidge looked at him deadpan for a second before shaking her head.

“Goddammit Lance.”

“Guys, the game is about to start again. Let's get going.” Shiro said behind them. Pidge started walking,but Lance took one last look towards Keith. Goddammit, talk about humiliating.

They were back in their seats, waiting for the teams to get back to the track.

“Well hello again Roller Derby fans. We had a, uh, very interesting halftime up here in the announcer's booth and I hope all of you had a great one too.” 

“We had a GREAT half time,Tim. So great that you’re not sleeping on the couch today. But back to the game at hand. We had a very impressive first half, don’t you think boo?”

“Yes indeed. I would have to say the most surprising was the Paladians. They came out with guns blazing from the very start. Amazing defenses led by Hunkalicious, perfect offensives led by War Machine, and one of the best jammers I have seen in years from Pretty Boy. He won his team a total of 50 points for the game, an impressive amount for a college derby match.”

“You are right about that, Jackson. The Paladians are ahead with 86 points, Pretty Boy being the obvious star jammer, while the Pigs are behind by fifteen with 71 points. It’s a hard hitting game with plenty of wipeouts, spills, and penalties, a lot of them done by the aggressive but amazingly stunning War Machine.”

“She has been penalized 4 times already. Three more times and she’s going to be out of the match. She better kept her temper this time around.”

 

“True, true. Looks like the game is about to start about again, Jackson Bear. Let’s see what surprises pop out during during the second half.”

“I already know what’s popping up, Tim. No worries.” There was loud coughing from the loudspeakers and the sound of someone falling to the floor. “Putting aside Tim’s dying, let’s get to the game.”

The teams lined up back on the track, positioning themselves again. It was the original line up again, with Allura at the front as the pivot, Hunk in the middle as a blocker, and Keith as the jammer again. He was sure he was making heart eyes at Keith again, just as Shay was doing to Hunk. The seats really were amazing. They had an up close, personal view of all the action on the court. Sure they could pretty much feel the sweat and spit coming off the players, but it was awesome. He could see every shove, every twist, every body check, the points the jammer wracked up and every penalty Allura made. He even had some blood on his jeans from a play gone nasty, but he couldn’t really care. It was even more awesome when the player kept going instead of paying attention to a broken nose. 

The game started again and the players were off. It was just as before. Intense, scary, amazing. Keith wracked up more points, passing blockers over and over. Hunk was a wall, a literal shield for the team. And Allura was a monster who bared her teeth with bloodlust for the sport. They were switched in and out repeatedly, the other players on the Paladians just as badass and ravenous.

After a while it was finally the second to last jam. The Paladians and the Pigs were nearly neck in neck. The Paladians were only four points ahead. Keith was skating hard and fast to win over points. Lance could see the sweat dripping down Keith’s face. His was hair plastered down. He had the most zealous, fiery look on his face. Lance could literally fall himself falling deeper and deeper in love as they all cheered on the Paladians. HIs throat felt sore and his head felt like it was pulsuing but he just couldn’t stop.

Keith was in the middle of the pack again, having won two more points while Hunk worked at keeping the other jammer back. Keith was fighting against one big blocker on the other team, trying to push past them but they weren’t letting up. Allura was battling it out with the other pivot trying to get back to Keith. Lance was pumping his fists, screaming out support. “Come on Keith! Break away, break away. You can do it.”

The pack was rounding their way over to the group. Just as Keith looked like he was going to break through, he was shoved. Hard. Hard enough that he was sent flying. With no control and arms flailing, he crashed through the barrier. 

Right into Lance.

They screamed as they toppled over, pushing back the chair behind Lance. Keith landed right on top of Lance as Lance’s head slammed against the floor. There were loud whistles and screams, but Lance wasn’t paying attention to any of it. His ears were literally ringing and his legs were in pain from Keith’s skates knocking into them.

“And there we have it folks, the first barrier break of the day. The game is stopped as Pretty Boy was shoved through the barrier.”

“He fell onto an audience member too, Tim. Hope that fan is doing okay. But you know, who doesn’t mind pretty boys falling on them, eh? I don’t.”

Keith groaned and pushed himself up, holding his upper body. He was pushing his helmet in place and trying to get the hair out of his eyes. Lance was stuck staring up at him, mystified by how beautiful he looked, even while he was sweating like a pig with scratches on his face. When Keith was more put together he looked down at Lance, groaning when he saw who it was.

“So.” Lance smirked up at him. “Fall for me yet?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not tired, you're tired. no i'm tired. really tired. alrighty so intense roller derby. awesome hunk. i wish i knew more spanish for lance bit i literally know one other language than spanish and its one of the least used languages in the world so whatever. i personally headcannon Shay and Rox are Muslim and are from northern Africa. um, idk. hope you enjoyed this chapter????

**Author's Note:**

> Alrighto so i've fallen into the rabit hole and i can't get out. i really. just really wanted to make a roller skating au. and i need a reason to start writing again because ive lost my touch. im not really sure if im a fan of my writing style right now but oh well. here ya go.


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